Sterilizer



H. M. CASE.

STERILIZER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC- h I917 1,338,069, Patented Apr. 27, 1920. Fl- 4. j ;SHEETS SHEET 1- Wifizassea: I %Z0r w 7W 0 0 l3 H. M. CASE.

' STERILIZER.

APPLICATION men DEC- 1. 1917.

Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

2 $HEETSSHEET 2.

F g" Z 9 Iwvhior door;

HENRY M. CASE, or CINCINNATI, OHIO.

s'rERILIzEn.

Specification of Letters Patent. a 1 Patented Apr, 27, 1920, 1

Application filed D ecember 1,. i917. Serial No. 204,835.;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IIENRY citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulIm rOVements-in Sterilizers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for sterilizing articles by direct contact therewith of steam, and more especially to apparatus of this character for .sterilizing glasses, dishes, spoons and other utensils in public use, as at soda fountains andthe like.

The object of my invention is to thoroughly sterilize articles quickly and with a minimum expenditure of heat without re- 1 quiring excessive attention onthe part of the operator, as well as to leave upon the articles a minimum of moisture without an actual special drying operation after the sterilization has been completed.

My invention consists in the combination of parts and in the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings: I Figure 1 is a general perspective view of apparatus embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view with parts of the front of the apparatus broken away to reveal the interior construction, and with lower parts omitted to save space and as be ing sufliciently illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the lower part of the door and adjacent parts of the casing illustrating the condensing dampers and the steam-control valve handle in their Fig. 4 is a Vertical cross-section through one of the dampers on a plane correspond ing to the line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a'vertical cross-section through the drain outlets and trap.

As I prefer to construct my invention,'I provide a cabinet 1 having. a left-hand compartment 2 and a right-hand compartment 3 with their front openings adapted to be closed by doors 4 and 5, which are hinged to the sides 'of the cabinet front to swing out to the left and right, respectively. This cabinet 1 is preferably of rectangular boxlike formation, and its lateral sides 6, top 7 and back 8 are all made with outer walls 6, '7' and 8 and inner walls 6", 7" and CAsn, a

partments 2 and 3, respectively. walls are all separated a considerable dis- ;Fig. 2. walls 9' of the partition 9 are joined by an,

positions ready for opening the 8", respectively, while the upright partition 9 between its two compartments 2and 3 has the two walls 9 adjacent to the com- These tance so as to leave all around between them an air space 10. This construction is clearly shown in the sectional perspective, view'in The front edges of the separated upright front plate 9" closing the space between them at the front.

Also, preferably, each one of the doors i 4 and'5 has an outer walllland an inner wall 12, so joined together all around, as by the seam 13 as to inclose in each door an air space 14.

The bottoms 15 of the compartments 2 and 3 are of pan-like formation with wide flat rims 16 all around, extending under and joining the inner walls of the cabinet sides and top and under and joining the sides 9 and 9" of'the partition 9, and having the central main part 17 with their depressed bottoms sloping rearwardly and downwardly to drain openings 18, and having in their central parts steam inlet openings 19.

All around where the outer wall 7 of the top 7 joins the upright outer walls, I prefer to provide reinforcing angle-bars 20 at the sides, 21 at the front, and. 22 at the rear, and, along the upright corners where the outer walls of the sides join, to provide upright reinforcing angle-bars 23. These add to the strength of the cabinet and also give it exteriorly a neat paneled appearance' as is best seen in Fig. 1. Thebars 23 extend down past the bottoms 15 a consid-. erable distance and form legs for the cabinet; and all around between these legs and extending a considerable distance downward are aprons 24 at thesides, 25 at the front and 26 at the rear. Preferably, these aprons are continuations of the lateral sides and back, and the front apron 25, has its upper edge even with and attached to the front edges of the bottoms 15 of the compartments. A strip 27 extends across the side 6 between the front and rear upright bars 23 at about the level of the upper edge of the front apron 25 to afford a better appearance to the exterior of the side of the cabinet.

The doors 4 and 5 swing outwardas, above described on upper and lower hinges 28 and 1 have latch-bars 29 pivoted on their front sides near their respective hinges. Upper and lower cleats 30 are fixed on the front plate 9 of the partition 9, and in the upper one of thesethe upper bars of both doors engage while the lower bars engage in the lower one; these cleats opening upwardly and the'bars swinging down into them. An upright link 31 connects the pair of bars 29 on each door, so that they may be swung up or down together by grasping a handle 32 on the link 31. Clips 33 guide and limit the movement of these bars 29 near the free edges of the doors.

This latch construction of the right-hand door 5 is clearly shown inFig. 1; it being understood that part of the other door 4 is similar.

All of the joints between the inner walls and the bottoms 15 of the compartments are made steam tight, and the doors 4 and 5 are so fitted to the open fronts of the compartments 2 and 3, respectively, that when they are closed, they form practically steam tight joints therewith. I

The front plates 11 of the doors have through them near their bottoms, pairs of segmental openings 34, each two opposite on a horizontal line through a central bearing 35, which, with an alined bearing 36 in the inner plate 12 support a short horizontal shaft37 that extends out to the front and has fixed on it a handle 38. Between the plates, a damper 39 comprises segmental parts extending in opposite direc tions from a hub 40 that is fixed on the shaft 37; these segments being alined parallel' to the handle 38. Throughout the lower half'of the circular area around each inner bearing 36 are distributed a plurality of perforations 41 through the plate 12.

Extending across over these perforated areas and over the bearings 36 is a hood 42 closelyjoined to the plate 12.

The cabinet 1, thus constructed, is supported on a stand 43 that comprises upright legs 44 with suitable diagonal braces 45 supporting a top in the form of a pan 46, inside the corners of which rest the legs formed by the downwardly extending bars A boiler 47 of upright cylindrical formation rests on a low stand 48 with a suitable burner 49 thereunder, part of which is shown'in Fig. 1.

A feedpipe 50 extends from the top of the boiler up through the bottom of the pan 46 and has branch feed-pipes '51 leading to the openings 19 in the bottoms 15 of the cabinet compartments. Each branch feed-pipe is provided with a valve 52 with a long stem extending forwardly through an opening in the front apron 25 of the cabinet and there provided with a handle 54, so placed on the stem 53 that the handle stands upright when the valve 52 is open to adit steam to the respective compartment 2 or 3. Where the pipe 50 passes through the compartments, and extends under both drain openings 18. The spout 57 of this funnel enters a cup 58 with the upper sine of the bottomof the cup attached to the spout, which has lateral openings 59 into the cup. This cup is thus adapted to hold water to the height of its rim 60 in the lower end of the spout 57, yet allow drainage into the pan 46 at all times. The bottom of this pan 46 slopes rearwardly to a general drain- 'pipe 61 running down behind t boiler 47 and which may be connected to anysuitable means for disposing of thedrainage, as, for instance a sewer. The boiler 47 is provided with a pressure gage 62 above. the pan 46 and visible through the space between it and the lower edge of the front apron 25 of the cabinet, and the pipe 63 that leads to this gage through the bottom of the pan 46 is also provided with locknuts 64. Also, the boiler 47 is provided with 'a safety valve 65 which opens up through the bottom of the pan 46. The boiler is also provided with an upright glass gage 66 to indicate the level of the water therein. 7 p 7 With the articles 67 (Fig; 1), or other articles placed in a compartment on racks 68, or in trays 69 with perforatedbottoms 70 on bars 71 ('Fig. 2 as shown, or otherwise suitably placed therein, the door is closed and latched, as the door 5 and the handles 38 of the dampers are brought to horizontal position as there r 'n' 111 rig. 1,

seen, thus closing the segmentalopenings 34. The steam having, been generated in the boiler '47 to a pressure of about eight pounds above atmospheric pressure, and the valve 52 now being opened by bringing the handle 52 to upright position, the steam enters the closed compartment under about that pressure, but doesnot necessarily exceed atmospheric pressure therein.

The hollow sides and top and doors of the compartment have a marked insulating effect on the interior thereof; it being understood that the hollow partition 9 insulates the closed compartment from the other,

'which may be open. This marked insulating effect, in conjunction with the substan tially complete closure of the compartment for maintaining a moderate, yet sufficiently high temperature to thoroughly sterilize articles, results in such sterilization being effectively provided with apparatus of comparatively inexpensive construction and simplicity of operation; It will be seen that the compartment has double walls on all sides but its bottom. The insulation is not practically necessary at the bottom, because this side is heated to a considerable extent by the boiler 47 and also because condensation of the steam inclosed in the compartment is not facilitated by coolness of the bottom thereof, since the steam slightly cooled adjacent to the bottom does not tend to rise and affect the main body of steam above. The pan-like formation of the bottom leaves an ample open space between it and the articles stacked on .the level of the rim 16 of the bottom. The steam normally can not escape from the drain outlets 18, nor can cold air enter therethrough.

After the articles have been thus exposed to the steam in the compartment for a sufiicient time, which will not exceed fifteen minutes, the valve 52 is closed by bringing the handle 54 to horizontal position, and the handles 38 are brought down to their vertical positions, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, cutting off the supply of steam and admitting cool atmospheric air through the openings 34 and perforations 41 to theinterior of the compartment. The effect of this'admission of cool air in contact withthe inclosed steam is cumulative. The initial contact, although of comparatively small amounts of air and steam, results in condensation of this steam, reducing the pressureslightly and better facilitating the en-' trance of additional air with the result that after a few moments practically all of the steam is, condensed. The door may then be opened and .the articles removed. Another result of this condensation by simple admission of air to the closed compartment is a partial drying of the articles of such' water of condensation as may have collected upon them. It will be understood that the articles were at no time excessively moist. The live steam does not moisten them excessively, and the amount of steam supplied to the compartment during an operation is not suflicient to produce a very large amount of moisture upon condensation. This condensation proceeds slowly during the operation, and the opening of the dampers 39 completes the final condensation. The water is discharged into the pan 46 whence it flows out through the pipe 61. This pan 46 also catches and discharges the condensation from the safely valve 65 whenever it operates.

As shown herein, the valve handles 54 are of segmental formation, so that when they are upright, they present obstructions to the damper handles 38, and each damper handle 38 has on its inner upper side a rib 38, so that one of these ribs will project over the valve'handle 54 in its horizontal position. upright position projects above the lower Also, the valve handle 54 in its edge of the door 4 or 5, as the'case may be. The result of this arrangement is to make it necessaryto close the valve 52 and cut off the supply of steam before either one of the ilizing operation, or to openthe dampers or the door itself before cutting off the steam at the end of an operation.

The hood 42 sheds water of condensation i running down the inner side of the door, and which might otherwise flow to the intenor of the door through the perforations 41. The two compartments 2 and 3, being effectively insulated from each other, may be used alternatively, the one, as the compartment 2, being open for removal of sterilized articles, while the other is closed and the sterilization therein is progressing. Both compartments being well insulated from the outside air,the vicinity of the device is at no time obj ectionably overheated.

It will be seen that the operation of my improved sterilizer involves the use of no more steam than is-actually needed for each sterilizing operation. The steam is not used at excessive pressure which wouldrequire more heat in its generation and more expensive apparatus to hold it in its application to the articles; nor is there attempted a sterilization with steam admitted at atmospheric pressure, as in an open vessel,

tially rectangular box-like formation with permanently closed lateral sides, back and top, and front adapted to be temporarily closed or opened for insertion or removal of articles to be sterilized, means for admitting steam above atmospheric pressure to the interior of said cabinet, meansfor admitting air to said cabinet before it is opened, to condense the steam in the cabinet, means to cut off the admission of said steam, and means to cut off the admission of said air,

each of these means comprising an element whereby it prevents operation of the other means, whereby admission of said air before admission of said steam is cut off,or admisto close said inlet, manipulating means for said valve ad acent to said closure, air inlet means in said closure, and manipulating :means for said air inlet means adjacent to the manipulating means for said valve, whereby one of said means prevents the operation of the other of said means unless said one of said means is first operated.

3. In a sterilizer, a cabinet comprising sides, back, top and bottom substantially continuous with each other, a door hinged to the front of said cabinet and so fitting said front that said front may be substantially completely closed, said door having an air inlet opening near its bottom, a rotary damper to close said opening, a handle for said damper outsidesaid door, substantially horizontal when the damper is closed and extending down when the'damper is open, said bottom having a steam inlet, a rotary valve to close said steam inlet, a stem for said valve extending forwardly under said door, and a handle on said stem projecting upward when said valve is open and extend.- ing under the substantially horizontal handle of the closed damper to prevent opening of said damper until said valve is closed.

4. In a sterilizer, a cabinet comprising sides, back, top and bottom substantially upward when said valve is open and extend ing under the substantially horizontal handle of the closed damper to prevent opening of said damper until said valve is closed,

said valve handle being substantially horizontal when the valve is closed, and said damper handle having a projection over said'valve handle when said damper handle is swung down to open the damper, whereby opening of said valve is prevented until said damper is closed.

5. In a sterilizer, a cabinet to contain articles to be sterilized, and having a steam inlet and having a drain outlet comprising a trap to allow drainage but confine steam and exclude air, and means to admit air to said cabmetto condense the steam therein,

controlling means to control steam admission, controlling means to COIltIOl'ELlI' admission, and means to compel alternative operation of said controlling means.

HENRY M. CASE. Witnesses: i

- JAMES N. RAMSEY, CLARENCE PERDEW. 

